Australia's Amateur Hour

Australia's Amateur Hour was a talent quest, broadcast on Australian AM radio from 1940 to 1958,[1] and a television spinoff, which ran for less than a year, 1957–1958.

Australia's Amateur Hour
GenreTalent contest, variety entertainment
Presented by
(Dear hosted both the radio and television version)
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locationsHomebush West, Sydney
Release
Original network
Original release
  • Radio: 1940 (1940) - 1958 (1958)
  • Television: August 1957 (1957-08) - 1958 (1958)

The radio program began on Sydney's 2UW, compered by Harry Dearth,[2] followed by Dick Fair, who developed it into Australia's most popular Sunday program, each week selecting ten contestants from around 100 hopefuls.[3] From 24 August 1930 the show was broadcast on 2GB, produced and compered by Terry Dear.[4] It was a popular, long-running, program on which many performers appeared.

The television version was also compered by Terry Dear, running from August 1957[5] to February 1958 on Sydney's TCN-9 and Melbourne's HSV-7. The success of the radio version didn't translate to its television cousin, which closed after only seven months, the radio version following shortly after.

Episode status

Some episodes of the radio version are held by the National Film & Sound Archive.[6] Although the television version was kinescoped so it could be shown in both Sydney and Melbourne, no copies are known to exist.

See also

References
  1. "Dearth, Fair, Dear in Closing Amateur Hour Presentation". Radio and Television Supplement. The Age. 7 November 1958. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  2. Combe, Diana R. (1993). "Dearth, Henry Alan (Harry) (1908–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. Nancye Bridges (1983). Wonderful Wireless. Methuen. ISBN 045400513X.
  4. "Terry Dear for Amateur Hour". The Sun (Sydney). No. 12647. New South Wales, Australia. 10 August 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Musgrove, Nan (7 August 1957). "Television Parade". Australian Women's Weekly. p. 10. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  6. "AUSTRALIA'S AMATEUR HOUR". National Film & Sound Archive. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.


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